September 23/10 9:06 am - Cross Vegas: report and results

Posted by Editoress on 09/23/10

Nash and Mourey Top CrossVegas

The moon was full, the Las Vegas lights shimmered in the distance, the crowds were noisy and the racing was hot at CrossVegas. In a show of force, Czech National Cyclocross Champion Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) soloed to victory, her first at the race after taking second the past two years.

“This is one of my favorite races and it's a good crowd tonight.” Nash said. “Every time you win it's super exciting it wasn't easy out there, it's a super tough course. I just put in a good effort maybe half-way through the race, the gap kept growing. I had teammates back there, they were super strong but they weren't going to let me go so I put my head down and Mary was riding extremely strong today. CrossVegas is a big deal and it's exciting to win out here.”

From the start of the race, the women of Luna Pro Team were in total control of the 40-minute race. Nash and her teammates Georgia Gould, and Amy Dombroski went immediately to the front and established a fast paced tempo. Joining the lead group was former US National cross country champion, Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven Cycles).

With three laps to go Nash attacked hard and established a huge lead. The battle was on for the remaining podium slots.

“I knew where my race was and I had to be smart about it. I was pretty much soft-pedaling on the front, neither of them would come around. Finally a little bit of help on windy sections but got a little blocked off on the last hillclimb“ McConneloug.

Though McConneloug pressed the Luna Pro Team riders, Dombroski timed her attack in the final lap and prevailed to take second.

“Last year that was where I was able to get out of the group that I was with." Dombroski used her knowledge of the course to attack on the climb. "You have to attack where it's hard, I think that's probably one of the hardest part, because it's a steep hill, the grasses are real dry, I just of gave it everything there and tried to keep turning the pedals over even though I was totally inside out.”

McConneloug came in third, with Gould finishing fourth.

The Elite Men's race looked to be a repeat of last year when defending champion Jamey Driscoll Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) took a solo flyer halfway through the race and looked to set to repeat. But that wasn't counting on French Cyclocross Champion Francis Mourey (FDJ), just coming off from back-to-back wins in Seattle, who nipped Driscoll at the line after a final lap surge to take the win.

“Tonight, an enormous crowd. I think that for Americans, cyclocross is a big party, and we saw that tonight the crowd was present, it was a really beautiful evening.” Mourey said. It is Mourey's first visit to Las Vegas and he compared it to the first time a child see a Christmas tree. “Grandiose.”

“It's a bummer to be out there and try so hard and get nipped by half a wheel at the line, but his reputation precedes him, he's a darned good bike rider.” Driscoll said after the race.

Two laps into the 60-minute race, Driscoll attacked the lead group and managed to build a gap of up to 24 seconds. Behind him, a chase group was formed which included Ryan Trebon (Kona), Chris Jones (Rapha Focus), Jonathan Page (Planet Bike), Christian Heule (Vc Gippingen Champion System), Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank-Giant Off Road) and Driscoll's teammates US National Cyclocross Champion Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers. Even though Johnson and Powers were playing defense, the gap slowly started to come down, with Trebon and Jones taking turns at the front.

Driscoll could see them coming but was buoyed by the fans. “That was pretty crazy. I was getting blinded by the flashes but the crowd was totally electrifying it was awesome to have hem cheering me on, it definitely raised my spirits out there.”

Tired from traveling, the Frenchman bidded his time in the group.“I knew that I had a chance to win in a sprint and I wagered my race on a sprint and it worked”.

With half a lap to go, Mourey put in a huge surge and was able to sprint ahead of Driscoll to pip him at the line. De Knegt came in third right after Driscoll.